Welcome to France

Not a lot to report today - slept in, missed breakfast, went out to find a shop to purchase a SIM card and walked into a protest on the street out front..Seemed quite tame - the police had the street blocked off, there were a lot of folks with banners and a few flash bangs..I did not pursue the crowd for photos as the hotel manager had come outside with me to advised me to NOT go near...Still, it was a hint of what's going on in France right now..a low key version of the protest movement...but interesting to see..

And now a Taste of France ( for Knottman2)....

The highlight after a day of rest, was dinner across the street at L'Entrecôte, a restaurant we frequented on our last visit here.  It is huge and always full with a line-up outside - an extremely popular, busy and noisy place...with only one menu - a simple green salad to start, wine, a tray of thinly sliced steak in a garlic sauce and heaps of frites..the frites are refilled as often as you like! As it was my only meal of the day - I didn't feel guilty at all by eating all of my half! Yum..

And today I learned that...

...bureaucracy is big over here. For my friends back home who have never been here, but hope to someday..Practise filing out forms before you come......You will be "registering" a lot.......I have been here only one day and have had to "register" twice already - first with the government via my hotel that I am here lest I commit a crime or something...and second.. register that I now  have a new SIM card and I must do that within 5 days of purchasing it! Oh yes, and also.... if you do get a new SIM card, be prepared to identify your "title" on said form... You will have two choices and only two.."Mr." or "Mrs", so figure out which one you are before you come... Like, are there no single or divorced women in France? So if you a woman and want to fit in ..check Mrs..

Learning new things is so much fun..